Led Zeppelin II Dead at 64: Man Had Changed His Name to Reflect Favorite Album

Led Zeppelin II, the 1969 album, will live forever. Led Zeppelin II, the man, on the other hand, has died, the Chicago Tribunereports. The 64-year-old resident of Bethalto, Mo., was born George Blackburn, and that’s the name he went by until last fall, when he officially changed his name to reflect his favorite Zep disc.

Blackburn filed for the fancy new name after finalizing his third divorce, his daughter Mindy Baker told the newspaper.

“He and Mom got divorced and he wanted to start his life over, like a new chapter,” she said. “He had always liked Led Zeppelin since they came out, and it was just time to do it.”

The Chicago native and longtime TSA employee saw the British hard rockers some 20 times over the course of his life, and it was the group’s sophomore effort — which features the songs “Whole Lotta Love” and “Ramble On” — that really spoke to him.

“That’s the one he just really related to,” Baker said, “just the whole thing.”

After the late-life divorce, Blackburn didn’t just change his name. He also covered his living room in album covers, hanging LPs by Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull and, of course, his beloved Zeppelin.

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